Safety appliance



L. G. SWENINGSTON.

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1921.

1 ,42 1 ,039, I Patented June 27,' 1922.

riz' r tries.

TO PETER E. REA, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 27,1922;

Application filed Ma o, 1921. Serial No. 467,423.

To all to [mm it may concern Be it known that I, LAWRE CE GORDON SwENINosToN, a citizenof the United States,

and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have inventeda certain new and useful Safety Appliance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety appliances.

Stated broadly, the object of the invention is to prevent injury to persons from fl ing pieces of material produced in chipping, grinding or machining hard, brittle metal or other material, such pieces being a frequent cause of injury, particularly, where they lodge in the eyes.

Specifically, the object of the invention is to provide a guard or screen for the purpose specified, which will be portable, and which has no fixed attachment to the surface on which it is mounted, whereby said guard or shield may quickly and conveniently be set up in position for use, its position adjusted, and said guard removed when the user has finished with it.

To effect the objects of the invention, my improved guard or shield comprises a plate of suitable material, preferably thin sheet steel, a supporting base therefor, an arm pivotally connected to said plate and which extends substantially at right angles thereto, and a weight carried at the outer end of said arm for the purpose of giving stability to the shield.

The invention also comprises the various features, combinations of features, and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, in which my invention is fully illustrated;

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a guard or shield of my invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof; and

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation on the line 33 of Fig. 1, the weighted supportin arm being shown in the central position.

eferring now to the drawings, 1 designates the guard or shield proper, which is madeof suitable sheet material, preferably thin sheet steel. In practice, said guard or shield proper may be made of any desired size to meet conditions. 'F or u'sualpurposes, I consider a guardor shield approximately two feet square to be adequate;

At its lower edge, the guard or shield l is provided with a supporting baseconsisting, as shown,--'of lugs 2 secured in spaced relation thereto, the lower sides of which are adapted to rest upon abench or floor" and extend substantially at right angles to the plane of said guard proper. As shown, the said lugs 2 are skeletoned, in order not unduly to increase the weight of the guard. As shown, the supporting lugs 2 are made separate from the guard proper, and are secured thereto by rivets or other suitable means. This feature of construction may, however, be varied as desired. Also, the lower edge of the guard or shield proper 1 is reinforced and strengthened by a band 3 which is secured thereto by the rivets which secure the lugs or projections 2 to the guard proper 1.

Pivoted to the front side of or shield adjacent to its lower edge, so as to lie and swing substantially in the plane' of the lugs 2, is an arm a secured to the outer end of which is a weight 5, said weight being preferably made of metal and of such size that it will impart stability to the shield proper when set up in position for use. As shown, said arm is pivoted directly to a bar 6 riveted or otherwise rigidly connected to the adjacent edges of the supporting lugs 52, said arm being offset at a distance from its pivot so that the section thereof adjacent to the pivot will clear the lugs 2, and the outer section thereof will rest in contact with the supporting surface on which said guard or shield is set up.

For convenience in handling and carrying my improved guard or shield, it is preferably provided with handles 7 at its oppo site lateraledges.

My improved guard or shield is particularly designed and adapted for use in machine shops, stone working yards and elsewhere where metal, stone and other hard, brittle materials are worked by means of cold chisels, and in practice, is set up in said guard such position that it will intercept chips which may be produced and will prevent them from striking others and particularly from lodging in the eyes of others who may be in the immediate vicinity.

Owing to the manner of supporting said shield, it may be very quickly set up and adjusted into position for use and removed when the user has finished with it.

I claim-- 1. A guard for the purpose specified, comprising a guard proper made of suitable sheet material, and means adapted for mounting said guard proper upon a sup porting surface without fixed attachment thereto, said means comprising a weighted arm" secured to said guard proper at approximately the center thereof and adapted to rest in contact with the surface upon which said guard is mounted, substantially as described.

2. A guard as specified in claim 1, in which the weighted arm is pivoted so as to permit angular adjustment of said guard proper and said supporting arm relatively to each other, substantially as described.

3. A guard as specified in claim 1, in which the means for supporting said guard proper also comprises feet adapted to rest upon the supporting surface, substantially as described.

et. A guard as specified in claim 1, in which said guard proper is pivoted to the arm, closely adjacent to the center of its lower edge, substantially as described.

5. A guard as specified in claim 1, the guard proper being provided with a rear- WEITCllY-GXtGllCllIlg root structure adapted to lie upon the support and the weight arm being pivotally connected to the guard proper at the lower edge thereof approximately midway the side edges, the weighted arm, being adapted to overlie said foot structure.

In witness that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I aflix my signature this 27 day of April, A. D. 1921.

L. GORDON SWENINGSTON. 

